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Former NFL OC Says Brock Purdy Reminds him of Jim McMahon

"They can make plays when they need to make plays. You put them in the right situation and set them stage for them, they will be able to execute for you."
Grant Cohn|
Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) looks to pass against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first quarter of Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) looks to pass against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first quarter of Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports | Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

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I recently asked former Raiders offensive coordinator and two-time Super Bowl winner Tom Walsh which former NFL quarterback Brock Purdy reminds him of. I said Jeff Garcia because they're both 49ers quarterbacks. Walsh had a much more surprising answer. Here's what he said.

WALSH: "I'm going to throw a name out of left field. Do you know the name Jim McMahon? Chicgo Bears quarterback, played at BYU? Jim was a unique character. He was a little bit more of a wild hare than Brock is, at least from what I can see of Brock. Jim gave head coach Lavell Edwards gray hair at BYU. Jim would be out there on the golf course no shoes on with a six-pack playiing golf on campus. And Lavell would get a phone call about it. But the guy could play. He had improvisational skill. He was a gunslinger. And he had poise just like Brock. The players loved playing for him. Some of their most successful years under Mike Ditka were when McMahon was the quarterback. Brock has some of those traits, and they're good to have."

ME: I see the comparison. Neither one necessarily carries the offense. Both teams feature their running backs. But both quarterbacks add a level of mobility and improvisation and poise that the entire team feeds off.

WALSH: "They can make plays when they need to make plays. You put them in the right situation and set them stage for them, they will be able to execute for you."

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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